BJP on the march in Maharashtra: Saffron Party and Shiv Sena tie-up set to take home at least 27 of 48 seats

Maharashtra is likely to go with the national trend as the BJP-Shiv Sena combine is projected to make impressive inroads into the Congress-NCP bastion by taking home 27 to 35 of the state's 48 Lok Sabha seats.

The ruling Congress-NCP could save face by winning 11 to 15 seats, at least 10 to 15 down from its 2009 tally of 25.

The India Today Group-Cicero exit poll shows a significant swing of 13.9 per cent away from the Congress-NCP combine in the state. It will be enough to send the ruling partners packing.

Men walk past a hoarding backing Narendra Modi for prime minister

But compared to 2009, both the Congress-NCP and BJP-Shiv Sena are losing vote share. There is a swing of 0.9 per cent away from the BJP-Shiva combine as well.

A regional breakdown of voting patterns shows that the BJP and its partners will do well in north Maharashtra, while the Congress will perform better in western Maharashtra.

The Vidarbha region is expected to go the BJP way as it is likely to win 52 per cent of the vote share there. The most notable BJP face contesting in Vidarbha is former party president Nitin Gadkari, who contested the elections from Nagpur.

A photo-finish is predicted in the Mumbai-Thane region where both the alliances are slated to get 35 per cent of votes. The BJP-Shiv Sena combine is likely to be a clear winner in Marathwada as well.

Narendra Modi won hands down when voters were asked who will be their preferred choice to become the prime minister. Forty four per cent of voters preferred Modi, while 14 per cent backed Rahul Gandhi. But when it came to choosing the chief minister, most votes went in favour of Ajit Pawar (13 per cent).

Current Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan was the choice of only 9 per cent, followed by Ashok Chavan with 8 per cent. However, 66 per cent voters said "others". An overwhelming 88 per cent of voters said the "outsider" versus "Marathi manoos" debate was an issue in elections in Maharashtra.

The voters seemed divided on the question of who will carry the legacy of late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray. Thirty-six per cent of voters said Udhav Thackery while Raj Thackeray was preferred by a close 35 per cent.

The Congress-NCP alliance is staring at a possible debacle, but the partners have managed to escape a rout despite huge anti-incumbency. The state government was also hit by a series of corruption scandals, including the Adarsh co-operative housing scam.

Major gain for ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu

By Mail Today Bureau

The India Today Group-Cicero exit poll projected a major gain for the ruling AIADMK, whose number of Lok Sabha seats was projected to rise from nine in 2009 to 20-24 this time.

The survey indicated that the DMK would slide from 19 seats in 2009 to 10-14 in 2014. It also projected an increase in the number of seats for the BJP and its allies from one in 2009 to two or three in 2014, while the Congress was set to be decimated from eight in 2009 to zero.

Others were expected to get one-three seats out of the total 39 seats. The Congress was projected to increase its vote share from 5.3 per cent to 7 per cent and the BJP from 8.5 per cent to 17 per cent, while the AIADMK was set to drop from 41.8 to 37 per cent and the DMK from 37.5 to 27 per cent.

Others were projected to gain vote share from 6.9 to 13 per cent. The vote share for the Congress was projected to go down in rural areas from 17 per cent in 2009 to 7 per cent and the BJP from 22 per cent to 17 per cent, while the AIADMK was going up from 23-36 per cent.

The DMK is going down from 26-24 per cent. Others were expected to gain, moving from 12 to 16 per cent.

In urban areas, the Congress is projected to lose votes, going from 13-7 per cent, and the BJP from 21-17 per cent, while the AIADMK is moving up from 23 to 38 per cent. The DMK is set remain constant at 30 per cent.

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Setback for Congress in civic polls in Seemandhra

By Mail Today Bureau

In the first signs of political fallout of the Congress's decision to form a separate Telangana state, the party was on Monday trounced in the urban civic polls in the Seemandhra region. However, its performance was better than expected in Telangana.

The Congress, which has ruled Andhra Pradesh for 41 years out of 57 years of its existence, faced a near-washout in Seemandhra, which comprises Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions.

The Telugu Desam Party of former CM Chandrababu Naidu was the biggest gainer as it bagged over 60 municipalities out of more than 90 of them in Seemandhra.

The YSR Congress of Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, who is staunchly opposed to the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, was placed second with 17 municipalities in its kitty.

In Seemandhra, the TDP won five corporations (Rajahmundry, Eluru, Vijayawada, Chittoor, Anantapur), while YSRCP clinched two(Kadapa and Nellore).

In Telangana, however, the Congress won more than 20 municipalities out of the total 53. The party has pushed K. Chandrasekhar Rao led TRS to the second position. The TRS bagged eight municipalities.

The TDP performed poorly in Telangana region, winning just three municipalities, while the BJP bagged two.

Several urban bodies in both the regions threw up hung verdicts. The polls to 145 nagar panchayats and municipalities and 10 corporations were conducted on March 30.